Diverting Chaos
by elisheva
Summary: A crime in the lab has the team investigating their own.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Only borrowing the characters for a short time...**

* * *

Calleigh Duquene was alone in the break area that they used as a lunch room. It was quiet. Alone and peaceful, just as she liked it.

Working for Miami-Dade crime scene investigational department did not usually give Calleigh what she desired in the form of relaxation but she generally didn't mind. She knew when she signed up for the job years ago what the score would be.

Tim Speedle walked with purpose through the Miami-Dade crime building. He was currently not on a case, surprisingly, but he did need to talk to his supervisor, Horatio Caine. He stuck his head in the nearest break room to see Calleigh eating her sandwich. Even when eating she appeared to have poise.

A look around showed Horatio was not present.

"Hey, Cal. Have you seen H?"

She shook her head, long blond hair moving off her shoulder and against her back. "I haven't seen him. He would have found _you_ if we had a case, Speed."

"No, I know that. I was needing his...opinion on something but he appears to be hiding."

Calleigh smiled slightly as she brushed the crumbs off her fingers. "He will appear when you lest expect it."

* * *

Horatio Caine was a man made of solid principles and a sharp desire to help those in need, alive or dead. He expected everyone around him, including his team, to pull their own weight and freely give their help to others. When someone didn't do their job, they received the wraith of Horatio Caine.

Horatio was surprised to see some magazines sitting on the bathroom counter and was happy to make use of them as he used the facilities. He was enthralled in an article that featured a new vest for police officers as his hand reached out to grab some toilet paper, only to hit the cardboard roll symbolizing emptiness.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

A look told him the toilet paper dispenser was empty at 12:15. The back up roll was empty was well.

"Hell." He thought long and hard about his predicament before looking back down at the magazine he was currently holding. Conceding, he tore the pages out to use as TP.

Once he finished and was out of his stall, bits and pieces of the glossy magazine paper swirling around in the toilet bowl, he checked the other stalls to look at their supply.

Two empty cardboard rolls stared back at him from the other three stalls.

Horatio stopped to wash his hands and then started investigating the bathroom for the toilet paper supply. Under the sink there were some extra soap dispensers and paper towel packages but no more toilet paper.

Frustrated, he searched the rest of the room to find no hidden compartments or supply closets. Rubbing his face, he tried to think of where he had seen the janitor go for supplies but his mind turned to blank.

Horatio Caine stormed out of the room, heading for the person who knew everything. Alexx.


	2. Chapter 2

Down in the morgue, Alexx had just finished an autopsy on a teen-aged girl who had drown in some nearby swamp. Alexx smoothed her hair as she gazed at the pretty girl. "With those weeds you didn't stand a chance, did you, baby." She covered the girl back up with the sheet respectfully as her morgue door opened. She turned to see a tall red-haired man enter her territory. "Horatio," she greeted. 

He opened his mouth to say something when his vision hit the body. "Is that the girl they found?"

Alexx nodded. "Yes. It appears she got tangled in the reeds and drowned," she told him although the case wasn't his. "No defensive marks or bruises. It was a simple accident."

"And she paid for it with her life, Alexx," Horatio grimaced.

She nodded. "So young." She resolutely turned from the girl to face Caine directly. "Did you need something, Horatio?"

"Yes, Alexx, in fact I did." He placed his hands on his hips, only needing his sunglasses to complete the look. "There has been a disaster happen and I am trying to head off the chaos. You can help, Alexx."

She was slightly alarmed but kept it to a minimum since she knew Horatio was apt to drama. "Of course. Tell me how."

"It seems there has been a thief and I intend to find them."

"A thief? What did they take?"

"Toilet paper."

She arched her perfect eyebrow. "Toilet paper?"

"Yes, Alexx, I know it is horrible. Toilet paper from the men's bathroom. I am going to send Calleigh to investigate the women's. In the meantime, I am needing you to help me find the supply closet so I may put the paper in the room before someone has to suffer from the experience as me."

Alexx tried not to smile, to look serious for Horatio's sake. She, too, knew what it was like to be without paper. "But I don't know where the janitor closet is, Horatio. Why don't you find the cleaning crew?"

"Because they only work at night, Alexx. They only work at night."

"Hm. Perhaps seeing if the other floors have any extra?"

"I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, Alexx. We have no time to spare. I am going to find the team to help investigate." With that he turned heel and walked out of the morgue.

Alexx shook her head. "That man has too much time on his hands," she told her dead audience before turning to the sink to clean herself up from the autopsy.


	3. Chapter 3

Tim Speedle found himself relaxing for the first time in a _while_ as he kicked his feet up on the plastic chair across from him. Calleigh was sitting beside him, laughing at something Speed had said. He was eating her leftover chips. 

"How did you find out?" Calleigh asked.

Speed grinned. "The hard way. I walked in on her and her best friend."

Calleigh snorted. "I bet she was real close to her."

"Close does not describe what I saw. I startled them with an explosive statement but my girlfriend never missed a beat. She asked if I wanted to join them."

Calleigh burst into laughter again, wiping her eyes as tears streamed down her face. "God, I am so sorry, Tim. I don't mean to laugh at your misfortune. It's the way you say it--" She couldn't continue for the laughter.

He patted her back gently. "It's fine, Calleigh. If I were embarrassed I wouldn't have said anything. Besides, it's good to hear you laugh. You don't do it enough."

She sobered slightly. "It's this job. Most days we have nothing to even smile about. Sure we put away some bad guys but there is plenty more of them."

Speedle nodded. "Like cutting a Hydra's head."

Calleigh smiled at the analogy. "Much like."

He reached over and gently clasped her hand. "Just don't let this work get to you, Calleigh."

She squeezed back. "I try. I promise."

Eyes connected, they studied each other in silence.

It was broken as the door banged open. The CSIs jumped and watched as their boss walked in with his trademark swagger. "Speed, Calleigh, let's get to work."

The two stood, Calleigh taking her trash to the can.

"What's up, Horatio?" Speed asked. "Where do we need to go?"

"It's here, Speed. It's here."

"I don't think I understand."

Horatio Caine stood straight. "There's been a crime here in the building."

Calleigh gasped. "Oh my God. Is everybody ok?"

"So far, Calleigh. But there will be trouble for some if we don't strike soon. Gather in the conference room while I find Eric."

They followed his order quickly and sat quietly, afraid to speculate. Minutes later, Eric Delco strolled in with Horatio in behind him.

"We must be at our best today. We have to catch this bastard."

"Uh, H. What is the crime we are expected to solve?" Eric asked.

"There has been a theft."

"What was stolen?" Calleigh wanted to know.

Speed leaned closer to Horatio. "Please tell me it wasn't any of the lab equipment."

"No, Speedle, no. This crime will affect nearly everyone if we don't act quickly."

Eric shifted in his chair. "Tell us what to do, H. We're on top of it."

"Eric, you and Tim need to go to the men's restroom and fingerprint the stalls. I want to know who was in there, when they were there, and whether or not they washed their hands. Calleigh, you are in charge of finding all the janitors and interrogate them."

"What is the basis of the interrogation?" Calleigh asked her boss.

"Toilet paper, Calleigh. Toilet paper."

Speed looked perplexed. "Stolen toilet paper?"

Horatio nodded once and out his sunglasses on his face for effect.

His team knew him well enough not to question him further and quickly jumped to do their jobs as described by the red-haired, generally mild tempered man.

* * *

Speed took the first stall while Delco took the one next to him. When he dusted the stall with fingerprint powder it proved to be a nightmare. He groaned out loud. "There has to be at least thirty different sets of prints in here."

"The same here," Eric confirmed. "Once Calleigh tracks down the janitorial staff we will do good to find out if they wipe down the surfaces of the walls to see if these are all from today."

"Their crispness says they aren't too old but the over laying will kill us. Hopefully the computer will tell the difference and separate them out for us."

"Doing that can tell us who was here last."

Speed nodded in agreement, though his partner couldn't see. "The onion effect. Peel it back one layer at a time."

"Exactly."

They were quiet as they worked for several minutes until Delco broke the silence. "Whoever is working in the lab is going to kill us."

Speed silently agreed. "At least everyone who's used this bathroom is an employee and already have their prints on file."

"Small miracles do occur."


	4. Chapter 4

Calleigh had moderate luck complying a list of janitors. What worked against her was that the janitors worked at night so she had to wake the people up an get them out of their beds. She was, however, disinclined to feel sorry about the whole incident since one of those very people could very well be blamed for the lack of paper in the bathroom. 

"Which floor were you working last night?"

"Describe your janitorial duties."

"So, you do change the toilet paper rolls?"

"Did you change them last night?"

"Are you sure they were all filled last night?"

Calleigh was working on one of the last ones she had brought in, a man named Michael Wright who was in his mid-twenties and had the cocky attitude to prove it. He had clashed against Calleigh on the first answered question as she asked him the same list of questions she asked the others.

"Yeah, I worked this floor last night. So what?"

"Can you give me a rundown on your duties?"

"I clean and empty trash. You know, since I'm a janitor and all."

"You clean the bathrooms?"

"Yeah, so that your pretty Barbie self don't have to go in a dirty bathroom."

"I appreciate that. Do you change the toilet paper rolls?"

"Yep."

"How about last night?"

"Sure did."

"In the men's bathroom on this floor. You are positive you filled them all?"

Wright shifted in his seat. "What's this about?"

"A head CSI has taken the lack of paper in the men's room very seriously. He believes there's been a theft of property and will use any means necessary to find the perpetrator."

Michael Wright turned pale.

Calleigh smiled at him. "You know what I think? I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. I think you've been smuggling toilet paper out for a while but the greed got to be too much."

"You can prove nothing!"

"Oh, I think I can. There are security cameras on every single spot of the parking lot below. When my partners get done reviewing them in just a few minutes what will it show, Michael? A carefree man coming and leaving like normal? Or a shift man who appears to have his pockets and coat loaded down?"

Wright looked worried, every bit looking like a shift man. "Oh, man. This can't be happening. It wasn't supposed to be this way."

"Tell me what happened, Michael. I can help."

Sobbing, he proceeded to tell her everything.

"My God," Horatio was saying as Calleigh explained what had been confessed, "I never expected it to go so deep."

Speed held a hand up. "Wait. So, you're saying this kid was blackmailed into stealing toilet paper because he owed money?"

She nodded. "Apparently there is a toilet paper ring out there and he was just caught in the middle. He's been stealing for months but this past week they put pressure on him for more."

"What's going to happen to him, H?" Eric wanted to know.

"He tells us what he knows and we off him protection of the witness program."

Speed looked at the poor kid from the two-sided mirror. "Will it be necessary?"

Horatio removed his sunglasses. "There people are ruthless, Tim. They will stop at nothing. I will use my power to see that no one else is caught in this ring. I _will_ stop them if it's the last thing I do." He put his sunglasses back on and walked out of the room with a purposeful stride.

The team looked at the perp for a minute longer before Calleigh suddenly turned to Speed. "You never asked him your question, Tim," she reminded him.

He turned slightly red as she and Delco studied him. "Uh," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "it was nothing really."

She crossed her arms. "Come on. Tell us. I'm sure we can help."

"Well, I kinda sat on my sunglasses this morning and I was hoping H could tell me where the best kind was."

Both team members burst into laughter, agreeing whole-heartedly that their boss would definitely be the one to ask about that sort of thing.


End file.
